


Beta Gus

by Pra370r1an



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, beta au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28539120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pra370r1an/pseuds/Pra370r1an
Summary: Everyone knew Augustus Porter was the poster child of a proper witch student. Polite, respectful, studious, and courteous to all.Gus, however…Gus was just as chaotic as his friends. But the beautiful thing about his chaos, Amity thought, was that you weren’t even sure he was involved most times.And the more Amity thought on it, the more she was convinced that’s exactly what she needs…
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 21
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Gus is perfect. But everyone writes beta Gus like canon Gus. You mean to tell me the only canon character, out of the four, to actually break the rules for truly selfish reasons, would be the most normal in the Beta AU?

Augustus Porter was an illusion prodigy. A boy who skipped a few grades due to his abilities, the star student of the Illusion tract. Never misses class, never causes problems. Always polite and respectful to those around him, a sharp contrast to the crowd he ran with.

The human Luz Noceda and witch Willow Park, and more recently Amity Blight, seemed to attract trouble and drama. Where ever they went chaos followed. Fighting monsters, other witches and themselves equally as often, the small group of friends had earned quite the reputation in the witch community.

The teachers and other adult figures always worried that the three girls would rub off wrong on young Gus. Luckily, Gus never seemed interested in the dramatics that came with his friends. Sure, he’d help fight a monster, no one could blame him for protecting his friends when they had the horrible idea to find one. But against Boscha and other bullies, or even when Luz and Amity’s emotions get the better of them, he preferred to hang back and let his friends deal with that. Illusion magic wasn’t the best suited for fights after all, and his friends were more than capable.

Yes, it seemed the only eccentricities Gus had picked up over the years was his love of human culture and his slightly punk aesthetic; the earrings and undercut hairstyle being the only indication of his friends influence. So, the older witches could breathe a sigh of relief. He would continue to be the nice polite boy he was, despite his friend group.

Only a few knew different.

The latest being Amity Blight.

Amity had history with Willow, everyone knew that. A falling out in the past, and years of bullying. The product being a crueler Amity and tougher more stoic Willow. Then along came Luz Noceda, the human standing proud against the worst Amity and others could throw at her. With the two girls to pick on, Amity never paid much attention to Gus.

Boscha did once.

Once…

No one had expected the reaction from Willow, and everyone knew to steer clear of Gus after that. And with Noceda now with the group no one wanted to test their skills against both bat and vine with proper motivation.

But now Amity was part of their little group, mostly anyway. She wanted nothing to do with Boscha and her clique, and Amity and Luz had the whole grudging respect thing going on. Even Willow was beginning to come around. Again, mostly…

But now she was spending more time with them she began to notice things. Things about Gus. Things that explained some mysteries from her bullying days.

Like some days Luz and Willow would completely ignore him. Just talking amongst the girls like he wasn’t sitting at the lunch table chewing right next to them. And when Amity tried to include him that one time, he only gave a short answer before going back to his lunch. Luz and Willow only smirked at each other, obviously they knew something they weren’t telling Amity

After that, Amity started to pay more attention to the boy.

She started to notice Willow discretely tapping Gus’ back every time they saw him, before slightly nodding or shaking her head at Luz. If someone was giving Luz or Willow a hard time in front of him, Gus would bring extra snacks for them at lunch. Sometimes vending machine food, sometimes snacks from home. Amity didn’t think nothing of it, just Gus being nice to his friends after a rough day.

One day he showed up to lunch, arms filled with snacks and drinks from the vending machine, sharing his horde with his friends. Including, for the first time, Amity. Tossing her a bag of chips and a can of soft drink, before turning back and discussing weekend plans with the other two. After lunch however, Amity passed Skara in the hall yelling at Amelia of all people. Amity had slowed and listened in as she passed.

Apparently, Skara’s wallet had disappeared and had randomly appeared in Amelia’s purse, sans cash. Skara was demanding her money back while Amelia played dumb. The argument showed no signs of slowing as Amity passed her old friends. She had never been gladder she had left the clique, no doubt both would have been clamoring for her support in the argument by now. She quickly turned the corner.

And found Gus leaning against the wall, apparently listening in. Their eyes met and Gus quickly glanced to the soft drink can Amity still hadn’t finished. He smirked then winked at Amity, before pushing off the wall and walking away.

Amity had spent a large portion of the rest of her day thinking of that wink. Strangely, it wasn’t the first time one of Amity’s old crew lost money and found evidence that another took it. Even Amity had lost some money in a similar incident ages ago. What about the other food, the store-bought brands? There was a high number of lost lunches through the year, but everyone blamed the locker demons being poorly trained and under fed. It was a public school after all.

Was Gus responsible those times too?

Her theory was seemingly confirmed a few days later when Boscha shoulder checked her into a locker before walking off with a laugh. Amity had almost lobbed a fireball at the girl before Luz had grabbed her arm, nodding back where Principal Bump had just come around the corner. Curiously, Gus had disappeared from their group and only reappeared during lunch.

He wordlessly passed Amity a pudding cup with a smile. But Amity knew that pudding cup brand was Boscha’s favorite. She always packed one with her lunch. Looking behind her, she found Boscha at her table with a sour look, staring at the empty spot where her lunch bag should be, while Skara talked her ear off. Amity turned back to Gus; eyebrow cocked in silent question. Gus only gave another wink at her, before turning and asking Luz how she did on the illusion test.

Another mystery presented itself when Boscha cornered Amity one day before school. Well, more like she got in Amity’s face outside while she leaned against a wall, waiting for the rest of the group. Not like Boscha could scare her anyway. Amity barely paid attention to the girl, it was all just pointless posturing and empty threats, boring bully stuff really. What really interested Amity about this event was when Boscha took a step back to leave.

To Amity it seemed like Boscha tripped on nothing, landing on her ass with a yelp of surprise. Amity didn’t even try to hide her laughter, watching her former friend get back up. She turned to leave, only to fall over her own feet again. Amity laughed even harder, and when Boscha got up again her face was as red as her hair. What she said next, however, was surprising.

“Shut up! You and that Runt better watch it!” Before storming off.

Amity was confused before a new voice spoke next to her.

“Guess she didn’t enjoy her trip,” Gus laughed next to her, shrugging.

Amity stared at Gus with narrowed eyes before turning and examining the brick wall behind her. There was no way he had snuck up on her, even when distracted by the stench of Boscha’s overpriced perfume.

“Right, Amity?” Gus grinned at her.

“Uhh, yea. Right.” Amity nodded slowly, still staring at the younger boy.

Luz and Willow chose that time to arrive, and the group made their way inside for class. Gus excitingly asking Luz about some new human flag pin on her jacket, wondering what the pink, purple and blue stood for. His excitement reaching a fever pitch over learning about human flags. Luz started to explain but Amity’s mind, however, was on the past. Every stumble and humiliating fall now examined in a new light, most if not all featured the bullied trio missing a Gus.

Amity was sure there was more to Gus Porter than he let on, she decided as she tuned back into the end of the discussion.

Today, Willow showed up to Hexside with a new do. The plant witch had it cut into almost a pixie cut. Amity couldn’t care less, but Luz immediately started fawning over it. She watched as Luz fiddled with the few locks left on Willow’s head, her tongue sticking out in concentration.

“What do you think Amity?” Amity blinked at Gus’s sudden appearance.

“I don’t know. It’s alright I guess.” Amity shrugged with feigned indifference. “I don’t get Luz’s stupid fascination with it. There’s barely any hair left there!” She turned back to the boy to find his eyebrow raised.

“Luz?” he asked.

“Noceda! I said Noceda.” She quickly corrected, before turning with a scoff. “Why did she cut it anyway?” Amity attempted to change the subject.

“She said the longer hair was getting in the way of her fights. One too many vines caught in it, I guess.” Gus shrugged, seeming to drop the subject.

They watched as Luz’s attempts at styling her friends hair, turned into a shoving match as the shorter girl got tired of the attention. The two girls’ argument washed over Amity and Gus, both ignoring their bickering.

“She really likes it huh?” Amity watched Luz try to jump on Willow’s back to continue messing with her hair.

Gus glanced towards the Blight, watching her idly playing with her hair. “You know, Luz always liked how long your hair was,” He stated.

“What?” Amity looked in shock at Gus who only shrugged.

“She said it reminds her of a ‘Lion’s Mane.’ Some human realm predator.” He clarified before Amity could ask. “I always thought it was accurate considering, well, you.”

Amity thought on this information often during her next few classes. Knowing Noceda liked how her hair looked felt…nice. Definitely, because she apparently gave the human a dangerous predator vibe, and not for…other reasons.

When the bell screamed for lunch Amity met with Willow to walk to the lunchroom, same as most days now. What was not the same was the pandemonium they walked into.

“Ella se ve hermosa, perra ciega!” A familiar voice shouted.

Luz had her red bat out chasing one of Boscha’s cronies, Cat, around the room while other students attempted stay out of their path. Most were unsuccessful.

“I don’t know what that means!” Cat gave a frightful shout as she dove under a table. Crawling quickly through student legs down the length of the table. “I’m sorry!”

Luz decided to take the high road at this.

That is to say she jumped on top of the table to continue her pursuit, knocking off any food that the students couldn’t grab in time. “You will be when I’m done with you, Pendeja!”

Amity and Willow took in the scene in front of them with concern. Amity noticed the Lunch proctor taking bets with the math teacher, while Boscha and the rest of her old friends seemed to be trying to hide in the corner from the enraged human. She scoffed, “cowards.”

“There you are!” She heard Willow say, followed by a surprised squeal. Amity turned to see Willow holding Gus by the back of his light blue hoodie. He was definitely not there before.

“Oh! Hey Guys!” Gus’s voice sounded a bit guilty. “I didn’t see you there!” His eyes darted between the two girls rapidly.

“Augustus,” Willow spoke much like a mother finding their child with a hand in the cookie jar. “Why is Luz chasing Cat?”

“Where are you going!?” Luz yelling caught their attention.

They turned and watched as Cat scrambled up a Hexside Banner, scrunching it up like a rope. “Whatever I did I’m sorry!”

“I’m not the one you have to apologize to!” Luz pointed her bat at her before smacking it into her other hand. “Now get down here before I introduce Pinatas to the Boiling Isles!”

Gus gulped turning back as Willow narrowed her eyes, he made a circle and summoned his scroll. Without taking his eyes off Willow he pressed a button and Cat’s voice played.

_“Oh Titan, I know! I couldn’t cut my hair like that! It’s like who wants to look like a gross butch?”_

Willow groaned before pushing Gus towards Amity, “Watch him while I deal with this.”

Amity grabbed his shoulder and nodded as Willow walked off. Gus gave a small smile and shrugged at Amity before turning back to the cafeteria. The room was a disaster, food covered the floor and the students equally.

“Damn, Noceda really went all out,” Amity mused, slightly impressed at the chaos. Only slightly.

“I know!” Gus said with entirely too much glee. “Isn’t it great!?”

She stared at the boy for what felt the tenth time that month. “Where’d you get that recording anyway?”

“Second period,” Gus answered. “She was talking with that girl Eyeleen.”

Amity nodded before the dots connected, “Second period?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “When you have Beastly Illusions and they have Boiling Isles History 101?”

“Uh, yea? Obviously?” Gus laughed, before stopping at Amity’s stare. “What?”

“Nothing,” She shook her head. “Illusion students…” Amity muttered in annoyance.

With a shrug from Gus, they turned back and watched as Luz trotted, a slightly worse for wear, Cat over to Willow. She began coaching Cat on how to apologize while Willow rubbed her forehead in annoyance.

“Say it!” Luz gave the girl a small shove towards Willow.

“I-I’m sorry for saying such hurtful things. A-about your new haircut. I-it looks nice…” Cat quickly said, avoiding Willow’s eyes while glancing back nervously at Luz.

“What else?” Luz prompted.

“Uhh…Y-you look beautiful?” Cat was nervously looking between the human and Willow.

“Luz…?” Willow looked up and stared at the ceiling.

“And?”

“A-and anyone would be lucky to d-date you?” Cat nervously stuttered out.

“Luz!”

“Huh?” Luz turned to Willow in surprise.

“That’s enough,” Willow said before turning to Cat. “Fuck off.” She scrambled away without further prompt. “Come on Luz” She led Luz back over to Amity and Gus.

“What are you looking at?” Amity addressed the room. “Get back to eating!” The rest of the students who were openly staring at the group quickly turned away and went back to talking amongst themselves.

“Thank you, Miss Blight,” one of the teachers said before turning to Luz. “Miss Noceda, please come with us.” Amity was surprised that Luz simply followed the two out of the cafeteria, thinking she’d at least try to argue about it.

She watched as Luz walked between the teachers down the hallway away from them. Amity almost turned back but saw Luz give a thumbs up behind her back. The next second the teachers were gone, Luz now alone as she turned a corner.

Amity blinked in shock and looked over to the other two, Gus in the process of lowering his hand. He smirked at her, “You of all people should know Luz Noceda doesn’t get in trouble.” He gave another wink before being smacked in the back of the head by Willow. “OW! Willow, what!?”

“Dumbass,” she sternly said as she walked out the door. “I’m heading to the greenhouse.” Amity watched her leave, head still reeling at what she saw.

“Love you too!” Gus shouted back sarcastically. He turned and surveyed the cafeteria one last time, “Ahh, classic. Whelp see ya Amity!”

“Woah! Wait a minute Twerp,” Amity’s arm shot out, blocking him from the door. “What in the name of Titan just happened?”

“Cat said bad things and Luz got angry?” Gus shrugged. “Thought that was pretty obvious.”

“Not that!” Amity growled. “The teachers!”

“Oh! Did some illusion magic to make a fake announcement calling them to Bump’s office, made illusions of them, then just set Luz loose.” Gus examined his fingernails. “This isn’t my first radio. Uh, human expression. It means-”

“I DON’T! ... I don’t care Augustus.” Amity struggled to keep her anger in check. She took a step closer, “You’re telling me. All those times Noceda was escorted away by teachers, or Bump, or even Coven Guards and was back by next period. That was you?” Amity leaned down into Gus’s face and ignited a fireball in her hand. “Do you know how infuriating that was?”

“Ok. I confess,” Gus calmly stated, looking bored. “It was Gus all those times.”

“Give me one good reason not to torch you right now.” Amity growled, angry at his nonplussed reaction.

“Like I said,” Gus smirked then walked through Amity, his body phasing past her like a ghost. “I’m not Gus. Bye!” The illusion Gus laughed at Amity’s shocked expression as he left the room.

Amity stared after the illusion before leaving for her next class. “Stupid Illusionists. Must have invisibled himself at some point. Gah!” Amity growled as she stalked away.

Everyone knew Augustus Porter was the poster child of a proper witch student. Polite, respectful, studious, and courteous to all.

Gus, however…

Gus was just as chaotic as his friends. But the beautiful thing about his chaos, Amity thought, was that you weren’t even sure he was involved most times.

And the more Amity thought on it, the more she was convinced that’s exactly what she needs…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and shenanigans ensue

The next day found Amity searching for any sign of the Illusionist. Gus was nowhere to be found that morning, Willow explaining he had texted her some reason to go in early. Amity knew he was just avoiding her. She couldn’t blame the boy seeing as how she threatened to torch him after learning he was the reason Noceda never got detention. But she had calmed down. She swears.

She had seen Gus a few times today, on the other side of crowded hallways, but the boy had always turned and hurried off when he noticed her. Which only irritated Amity to no ends. How was she supposed to tell him she had calmed down if he continued treating her like the plague? Didn’t he know she needed to talk with him?!

“AUGUSTUS PORTER!” She said in a totally calm way. The illusionist’s head whipped around, in alarm, from his locker. Amity reminded herself to remain calm as she made her way over to him.

Yup, totally calm as the sea of students parted to let her through, scrambling to get out of the way.

“Hi Amity…” Gus nervously said, eyes darting around for a way out. “What uh…what do you need?”

Amity glowered over Gus. She took a deep breath before saying the last thing Gus expected. “I need a favor.”

“Oh…” Gus gave a confused look before turning back to his locker to grab his books. “Is now really the best time Amity? I really need to get to next period.”

“I’m willing to pay.”

Gus stopped before slowly closing his locker demon the rest of the way. “I’ll let Gus know.” It was Amity’s turn to blink in confusion. Before she could question it, her scroll started ringing. “That’s him.” Gus, or illusion Gus, said before turning and walking away.

Amity summoned her scroll, seeing an unknown number. Not that she ever got Gus’s number, or gave him hers for that matter. She reminded herself that she needed his help and to remain calm. Amity answered the call.

“How did you get this number!?”

Nailed it.

“Hello to you too Amity,” Gus leaned against a wall; his scroll held against his ear. “I guess skipping class today was the right choice.”

“Answer the question Twerp,” Amity growled back.

Gus sighed, running one of his fingers along the brick wall idly feeling the texture. “I lifted your scroll one day while you were fighting Luz. Calm down,” he cut off what was no doubt an angry retort. “It was before we all became friends. I was working on a great prank scroll call, but this works too.” He shrugged despite Amity not being able to see it.

“Fine,” Amity said after a moment. “I need your help.”

“Yeah? Must be important if you’re coming to me.” He scanned the crowd before stopping. “Hold on.”

“Excuse me Ma’am?” A Conformitorium Guard approached the sweet looking, older woman leaning against the wall of a building. “Sorry to interrupt your scroll call. I just wanted to make sure you’re alright and didn’t need any help.”

“Oh, aren’t you a dear,” The woman’s voice was positively grandmotherly. “I’m quite alright, just taking a break for these old bones. Thank you though. If only my grandson was half as sweet as you.” She smiled up at the guard and pinched the cheek of its mask.

“Oh, well, just doing my job Ma’am,” The guard became bashful and looked down as he kicked some dirt around. “You let me know if you need anything.” He walked away.

“Oh, I will deary! Thank you!” The older woman brought her scroll back to her ear. Gus’s voice returned to normal, “Sorry about that. Where were we?”

There was dead silence for a second before Amity responded, “I don’t want to know…”

“Really? Because Luz and Willow love the grandmother bit,” Gus laughed. “I actually workshopped with Luz to develop her after she told me how her Abuela got out of a parking ticket, and… Ok, I need to explain some human things for this story to make sense so bear with me-”

“Gus. Focus,” Amity tried to reign in the boy. “My parents are trying to set up another arranged marriage.”

“What, Arson not working anymore?” Gus watched a young man inspect a market stall. He moved from his spot on the wall and followed as the man moved further into the market.

“My parents said if anymore mansions mysteriously burn down, I’ll be written out of their will,” she said in a bitter tone. “This needs to be handled quietly.”

“Which, I’m afraid to say, is Not your strong suit,” Gus chuckled. Up ahead the man stopped by another stand, unaware of the sweet looking grandmother following him.

“Which is why I need your help,” Amity said lowly before forcing out, “Please.”

“Woah, don’t hurt yourself Amity,” Gus whispered as he passed the man, his hand moving deftly and nimbly. “Of course, I’ll help,” he returned to a normal speaking level as he stopped at the next stand. The four eyed demon manning the cart giving a confused look at the teenage boy sounding grandma before shrugging and helping another customer.

“Really?” Amity sounded surprised.

“Yeah. We’re friends now aren’t we?” Gus shrugged again. He watched the man out of the corner of his eye, looking over the jewelry at the cart. He smirked at a sudden thought, “Although, if you want to pay me. I could use a gift for a girl.”

“You want me to buy a girl something for you?” Amity asked incredulously.

“Hey, I’m no good with those kinds of things and you’re rich,” Gus quickly explained. “Just pretend it’s for someone you like and I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Fine,” Amity’s tone made it clear it wasn’t. “I’ll get you your stupid gift.”

“Thanks, you won’t regret it. Now,” Gus lowered his voice. “Who’s the target?”

“This jerk named Mattholomule.”

Gus blinked, “Mattholomule? The new transfer from Glandis?”

“Yup. Our parents seem to think if we’re in the same school we’ll ‘ ** _Bond_** ’ or something.” Amity scoffed over the scroll.

“You should have led with that Amity. I would have done it for free,” Gus smirked, ideas already bouncing around his head.

“…You’re still making me pay, aren’t you?” She asked already knowing the answer.

“You know it!” Gus laughed, before movement caught his eye. “Hey, I got to go! Show’s about to start.” He hung up his scroll before Amity could say more.

The young man had put the necklace he was admiring down, and moved away from the jewelry stand. This triggered an alarm spell, a horrible screech echoing from his pocket. The man looked down and pulled the ring Gus had slipped in his pocket out. He looked up in shock and met the glare of the salesdemon.

“Get him!” the guard from earlier yelled as him and another guard made their way through the crowd towards the man.

“Wha-I don’t!” The man looked from the ring to the glaring salesman. “I don’t know how that got there!” He glanced at the guards then back to the salesdemon. He tossed the ring to the demon then turned and sprinted away from the guards.

“Hey! Come Back Here! Uhh Sorry Ma’am!” The Guard apologized as he passed the disguised Gus. He shoved a random person out of his way two steps later, “Get Out of Our Way!”

“Really! I never saw that before!” The man shouted back as he turned a corner, the guards close behind.

It took everything Gus had to not crack up until he was safely down the nearby alley. He quickly composed himself and dropped the illusion, as he exited back into the marketplace. His thoughts turned to his new mission.

This should be fun.

The next day, Amity was stuffing her books in her locker at the end of the day.

“Amity.”

She jumped as Gus suddenly appeared at her shoulder. “Don’t do that,” she growled in annoyance.

Gus smirked up at her, “Do what?”

Amity huffed and turned back to her locker. “What do you want?”

“Thought we should talk about our plan,” Gus shrugged, leaning on the locker next to Amity. “Figured you wouldn’t want the others to know.”

“I rather they didn’t…” Amity said in a low voice.

“Right. So, what needs to be done about old Matty?” Gus watched people walk by while Amity searched her locker for the correct books to take home.

“Normally, I’d just rough up the suitor or burn something to get them to back out. But after my parent’s threat I can’t risk him telling them this time.”

“And he’s a huge snitch,” Gus spoke with a venom that his usual voice lacked. Amity turned and looked at her friend in concern, never hearing that tone from the young boy before.

She nodded slowly, “And he’s a huge snitch.”

“So, since physical violence is out?” His voice returned to normal.

“We need my parents to willingly back out of the agreement,” Amity pulled her Abomination textbook out. “Appearance is everything to a Blight. They won’t allow a weak or foolish witch to marry into the Blight name.” She turned back to Gus, “No matter what family they’re from.”

“So, we humiliate him?” Gus grinned at Amity in excitement.

“Publicly. We have to make sure it reaches my parents.”

Gus nodded deep in thought, “Ok. Sounds simple.” He rubbed his chin, “I’ll do some recon. See if there’s any opportunities to exploit.”

“Recon?” Amity cocked her brow.

“Reconnaissance. Get with the lingo Blight,” he snapped his fingers, having an eureka moment. “Is there some event where your parents and him will be at?”

Amity shook her head, “Not for a while. And I’d rather he leave me alone sooner than later.”

Gus nodded, “Right, and so Luz doesn’t find out.”

“Yeah,” Amity nodded before stopping. “And Willow! Luz and Willow!”

“What about us?” Luz asked as the two arrived. Amity looked at the two in shock, but Gus was quick on his feet.

“Amity was just inviting us to grab a slice of Sinisilian pizza, and uhh well I sorta thought she just meant me and was confused. My bad,” he rubbed the back of his neck in fake embarrassment. She stared at the boy; the mock innocence act almost made her believe the lie herself. And the fake embarrassment at the end? If he brought those acting skills to their plot, Mattholomule would never know what hit him.

“Yeah, Amity, we never hangout! I love Sinisilian pizza, it’s so good!” Luz quickly became excited about the prospect. Next to her Willow narrowed her eyes at Gus but stayed quiet. “It’s probably the closest thing to actual human style food on the Boiling Isles.”

“Uhh, good,” Amity nodded. She should be annoyed, considering she now had to rearrange her whole day. But for some reason she…wasn’t?

“Are you going soft on us Princess?” Luz asked smirking.

“Shut up Noceda!” It was true though. Besides the odd dangerous adventure or the occasional fight between them, the four had never really spent much time outside of school since becoming friends. Usually due to the tight schedule Amity’s parents forced on her, but she could make time. “I’m just hungry is all,” she lied. “And it’s only polite to invite you. Some of us have manners.” She shook her hair haughtily at Luz.

“Nah, you must be starting to like us,” Luz laughed, backing away from the suddenly angry witch advancing on her.

“So, where were you thinking we go, Amity?” Willow asked with obvious suspicion, stopping Amity in her tracks. Obviously, she had no idea.

“Oh, I know the best place Amity, I have to show you!” Gus exclaimed, once again saving a floundering Amity. “Follow me!”

That weekend Amity headed to the Marketplace, determined to uphold her side of the bargain. She doubted the boy would bail on her if she didn’t get a gift, but she has been wrong about Gus way too much recently to risk it. However, Amity started to get annoyed after the fourth stall she stopped at.

“Ugh, this is so stupid!” Amity growled as she walked away from another stand. “He couldn’t have told me literally anything about this girl? Had to be mysterious and dramatic. Dumb Illusionists.” She griped, stopping at a new stall.

“Welcome, see anything you like young lady?” The demon presented its wares with a wave to Amity.

Amity looked over the jewelry, sometimes picking something up to examine it before replacing it. Nothing felt right though. She idly thought about just grabbing the most expensive item, but Gus was helping her so the least she could do was take this seriously.

Then she remembered what he told her as she saw it, “ _Just pretend it’s for someone you like and I’m sure it’ll be fine_.”

“What can you tell me about that?” She pointed, and the demon smiled.

Five minutes later she was leaving with the wrapped gift. Amity retraced her steps through the marketplace when through the crowd she spotted Skara and Bo walking her way.

“I can’t believe that! He’s such a creep!” Skara patted Bo’s back. “You sure you’re fine with this?”

“I know, but I’ll be fine Skara. It’s just one small part. Besides you’re in the staff part with him.”

“Yeah, but that’s staves. You have to sit with him,” Skara glanced towards Amity before turning back to Bo. “Hey I have to go, but we should get together again soon!”

“Of course, we do! Bye Skara!” Bo turned a corner with a wave.

Skara waved back before starting to walk backwards in front of Amity.

“What do you want Skara?” Amity glared at her old friend, annoyed with her antics.

Skara smirked but when she responded Gus’s voice came from her mouth, “I thought you’d like to know I have a plan now. But if you don’t want to hear the details…?” ‘Skara’ shrugged.

Amity stopped in her tracts, staring. “Wow. I cannot tell you how much I hate this.”

Gus laughed then dropped the illusion of Skara, “You’re no fun. Do you want to hear or not?”

“Fine. But first,” Amity shoved the package at Gus. “That’s for your girl.”

Gus grinned back at her, “Not my girl but thanks. I’m sure she’ll love it!”

“Whatever. I’d tell you not to look too surprised, but I doubt you’d fall for such a rookie mistake,” Amity smirked. “Now what’s your plan?”

Gus smirked back, “Get this…”

Gus awoke the next day excited. With the details of the plan ironed out, it was time for the prep. He quickly got ready, showering and changing in record time. Stopping in front of the mirror and gave a determined look. Lacing his fingers together and stretching, cracking his knuckles.

“Show Time.”

With a grin he left his room, he had a lot of stops to do today.

Willow gave Gus a suspicious look, “Why?”

Gus shrugged, “A project I’m working on. It’s a good cause I swear.”

She pinched her nose, “I’m going to regret this aren’t I?”

“Of course, not Willow! Everything will be fine! Better than fine even!” Gus promised.

Willow turned and rooted around the back of the greenhouse before pulling out a seed. She made a spell circle and the green magic was absorbed by the seed. Gus went to take it but Willow pulled her hand back.

“A good cause?” She asked.

“The best!” Gus nodded eagerly.

She tossed the seed to Gus, “It better be.”

“OHMYGAWDLOOKHOWCUTEITIS!” Skara shouted.

“Skara don’t touch it! It’s probably covered in fleas!” Boscha shook her head, placing the buckets she was carrying down.

“But look how cute this widdle guy is!” Skara gestured at the furry four-legged creature.

The creature opened its mouth and gave a low, “Woof!”

“Oh, you are too much! I wonder what you are?” Skara cooed at it. She reached out and pet it’s head, the creature seeming to freeze.

“Skara can we go now? We’re late already!” Boscha grumbled.

“Oh, we can spare a few minutes. Look at this face!” Skara hugged the creature, pressing her face against its and looking at her friend with puppy eyes. She laughed and scratched behind its ears while she spouted babytalk. The creature’s eyes were wide, both girls seeming to miss how much shock it was in.

“Skara, come on!” Boscha groaned.

“Oh, fine. You’re no fun today,” Skara got up and turned. “Hey, didn’t you have two buckets?”

Boscha turned around to find a bucket of Eldritch balloons missing, “Fuck! Nice going Skara!”

“Hey you’re the one who lost it!” Skara yelled back.

Boscha grabbed the remaining bucket and they continued down the street, arguing with each other.

The “Dog” stayed there till they were gone and the illusion dropped, revealing the missing bucket and a very red Gus kneeling in its place. His face a crimson mask of shock.

“I…did not think that through…”

Principal Bump typed the number from the file into the teleraven on his desk. A few rings later and someone answered.

“Hello?” a feminine voice asked.

“Ah, yes. This is Principal Bump may I speak with Bo please?”

“One second.”

A second later, “Principal Bump?”

“Hello, Miss Bo. I’m afraid I have some bad news; we won’t be needing you tomorrow. We will still pay you for the time, but we decided on a different direction. I’m very sorry.”

“Oh, that’s ok,” Bo said sadly, a wave of guilt shooting through Bump. “Thank you for the opportunity and for still paying me.”

“Of course, I’m not a monster after all. Have a pleasant evening, Miss Bo. Good day,” Bump hung up and replaced the file. He turned and picked up the other papers he had found and exited his office.

And ran straight into Principal Bump.

Both Bumps fell to the ground, dropping the items they were carrying. The one quickly grabbed the script and itinerary and turned to see the other shoveling a large amount of snails back into a briefcase, before freezing when he realized who he bumped into.

“I won’t say anything, if you don’t,” one Bump said.

The second pointed at the other, “That’s what I like about us.”

A few days after speaking with Gus, Amity got a call.

“Channel 11 in five minutes,” Gus spoke before hanging up.

Amity sprung up grabbing her crystal ball before leaving her room. She made her way through the manor before coming to the sitting room. She took a deep breath before entering.

“Mother, Father,” she greeted her parents, as they looked up from the books they were reading.

“Amity?” her Mother examined her, taking note of the crystal ball. “Did you need something?”

“Well, I was speaking with Mattholomule the other day and he mentioned he would be appearing in a commercial for Hexside. I thought you might like to watch it with me?”

“We would love to Amity,” her father stated, before turning towards his wife. “See? I told you getting that boy into Hexside was the right move.”

“Yes, yes dear,” her mother rolled her eyes as Amity sat the crystal ball down and turned to channel 11.

“Oh, Hi. I didn’t see you there,” Principal Bump appeared on the screen, closing a book and started a rehearsed spiel about Hexside. Amity started to get nervous that this wouldn’t work, but was quickly proven wrong as Mattholomule was thrown against the window by eldritch tentacles. Ironically just as Bump talked about student safety.

“Oh, that is not a good look for Mattholomule,” Amity’s mother tutted, more concerned at the foolish face he made pressed against the glass than his wellbeing.

Amity schooled her face watching as Mattholomule endured prank after prank. Illusion spiders attacking and carrying to the ceiling. Bo’s vegetarian lunch lunging forward and trying to eat him. And finished off with him just being dropped into frame with a thud.

That girl better kiss Gus fast before Amity did.

Yeah, she wasn’t going to do that…

“Hexside. Where the magic of friendship…Is no longer taught here due to budget constraints,” Principal Bump finished his speech and the next commercial played.

Amity turned off the crystal ball and sat there.

“Well, that was…enlightening,” her father said breaking the silence.

“Indeed,” her mother looked at Amity in suspicion. “Did you know about what happened to Mattholomule?”

“No, mother. I was with Miss Lilith the day they shot the commercial, and Mattholomule has been absent from classes since then. I see why now.” She once again mentally thanked Gus for making sure she had a solid alibi that day.

“Yes…Unfortunately, after much thought, I don’t think Mattholomule would be a good fit for you Amity,” her father said.

“That’s unfortunate,” Amity carefully said, keeping her elation a secret. “I’m sorry to hear that. If you’ll excuse me.” Her father waved his hand and Amity quickly left the room.

Amity summoned her scroll as soon as she left, typing a simple message.

_It worked._

“And! And then! I dispelled the illusion and he dropped right behind Bump!” It was, once again the end of the day and Gus and Amity howled with laughter. The other students shooting them odd looks as they gathered their things and left. But Amity didn’t care, she was too happy to be done with that whole ordeal.

“You are Chaos, Gus! I cannot thank you enough,” she managed to get out between laughs.

“Ehh!” Gus waved her thanks aside. “That’s what friends are for Amity. Besides watching Mattholomule be thrown through the air after the Eldritch balloon was thanks enough.” He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, “That was beautiful.”

“Oh, his face on the window was priceless,” Amity laughed sadistically.

“Ahhhh,” Gus let out a satisfied sigh. “That was so worth it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Amity suddenly remembered. “How did your girl like the present?”

“She’s not my girl, but…I think I’m about to find out…” He said cryptically, glancing behind Amity.

“What?” Amity asked before a green blur knocked her to the ground.

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!” The girl above her squealed, wrapping her arms around Amity.

“WHAT THE FUCK NOCEDA!? GET OFF BEFORE I ROAST YOUR STUPID JACKET!”

Luz sat back allowing Amity to sit up, she glanced to where Gus was but saw only Cat, and Amelia talking a few lockers down.

“Thank you so much Amity! I love it!” Luz practically vibrated next to Amity.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” She blinked as Noceda’s arm was thrust in front of her face. Her eyebrows shot up looking at the shiny new bracelet, wrapped around her wrist. Black rope held together by a clasp shaped like a silver owl. The silver shined exactly the same as the day she picked it out.

“I knew you were going soft on me Blight,” Luz said smugly, wagging a finger at her.

“It’s like you want me to torch you,” Amity narrowed her eyes at the human.

“Nah, you like me Princess,” She teased. “And now…I have proof!” She shook her new bracelet in front of Amity’s face, laughing. Amity felt her face blush at Noceda’s words. “Alright, alright. No need to get angrier Blight.”

Luz stood and offered her hand to Amity, who took it. “I-I’m glad you like it,” Amity prayed she didn’t sound as shy as she felt in that moment.

“Of course, I did,” Luz beamed at her before gasping. “I need to show Willow! She’ll never believe it!”

“You may be right about that,” Amity and Luz laughed. Luz quickly excusing herself and running towards the greenhouse. “Yeah, I’m going to kill that Twerp.”

“Aww, who would help you with your relationship problems then?” Gus asked next to her, making her jump in surprise. She looked over to see Amelia now alone, she gave Amity a wink.

“I thought I told you never do that again,” Amity growled.

“I don’t think that’s right,” Gus said normally before waving behind Amity. “Boscha! I heard about what you did to Willow! That was great!” ‘Amelia’ ran to the girl, falling in line as they approached Amity. “Oh, before I forget! The coach said Grudgby practice was cancelled today. He has to take someone to a healer appointment or something.”

“Ugh,” Boscha groaned. “Why does he always wait for the last minute to tell us?” She stopped in front of Amity, “What are you looking at Blight?”

“Not much,” Amity responded. “Sorry about practice being cancelled. I saw the coach leave in a hurry already.”

Boscha scoffed before leaving, “As if you care.”

‘Amelia’ gave Amity another wink before turning a corner, and Gus came back around. He waved at Amity as he followed the path Luz took towards the greenhouse.

Amity shook her head, turning she grabbed her things and started heading towards the door. She stopped after a few steps and looked back the way Gus went. Towards the Greenhouse to hang with Willow, and Luz…

Amity stood there debating.

“So, Uhh…” Gus cleared his throat and readjusted his grip on the arm. “I guess you saw the commercial huh?”

Willow stared up at the boy with narrowed eyes, “You really think I wouldn’t recognize my plant magic eating Mattholomule’s face?”

“That was you!?” Luz sat on a nearby stool tapping her bat against the stool legs idly, watching her friends. “Me and King were cracking up when we saw it! Missed, like, the last half of King’s soap opera,” She ignored the nervous look on Gus as Willow held him in the air by his shirt, his legs dangling. “Where’d you get those Eldritch balloons anyway? I’ve been trying to get some since I came to the Boiling Isles.”

“I’m sorry that’s classified,” Gus turned and calmly explained to Luz. “I’m swore to a vow of secrecy.”

Willow gave him a light shake, “To who?”

“Uhh…myself? Willow! Wait!” He held up a hand stopping the girl before she could give another shake. “If the details of how I acquired those balloons got out, then something unfathomably horrible will happen. Its fallout would negatively affect the rest of my social life…”

“Oh, it can’t be that bad Gus,” Luz waved her hand at him.

Gus turned and gave a serious stare, “Skara would never talk to me again…”

Luz laughed, “Oh, is that all-” She paused, “She wouldn-Why would sh-” Her face slowly turned to horror and concern before asking in a low voice, “What did you do?”

“As far as she knows nothing.” Gus turned back to Willow. “And it will stay that way.”

“Augustus,” Willow said slowly, eyes still narrowed. “This was way too public for your usual pranks. What compelled you to do this?”

Gus started to speak before being interrupted by the greenhouse door slamming open. For the first time since befriending her, Amity Blight entered. Looking around at the various plants and soil bags, “Thought it’d be dirtier…” She turned and smirked at Luz and Willow’s surprised look, “What’s with you three? The Twerp in trouble or something?” She waited for a reply with a hand on her hip.

Gus only rolled his eyes, still held aloft by Willow. “As I was about to say before being interrupted, Blight,” Gus smirked back. “It was for a very good reason…”

Everyone knew Augustus Porter was the poster child of a proper witch student. Polite, respectful, studious, and courteous to all.

Gus, however…

Gus was just as chaotic as his friends. But the beautiful thing about his chaos, Amity thought, was that you never knew when he was involved.

Amity felt grateful for that fact every time she saw Luz’s new bracelet…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/5Kd0NIn9Y7k

**Author's Note:**

> More Gus next chapter. I can't wait.


End file.
